Life guard



E. HANOUL LIFE y GUARD Oct. l0, 1933.

Filed June 16. 1931 Patented Oct. 10, 1933 PATENT OFFICE LIFE GUARD Emile Hanoul, Flemalle-Grande, near Liege,

Y Belgium Application June 16, 1931, Serial No. 544,912, and in Belgium June 21, 1930 3 Claims.

This invention relates to life-guards or fenders for use on the front of motor cars, omnibuses, lorries, tramway cars or other road vehicles of the type wherein a hammock or similar device is 5 adapted to be swung into its operative or useful position at the will ofthe driver of the vehicle by one or more rods connected to pistons located in oscillating cylinders and adapted to be impelled forwardly by springs, compressed air or l similar source of power.

According to the present invention the hammock is connected at its upper extremity Vto two plates pivotally located one on either side of the vehicle chassis. Each of the said plates has two '15 cables connected thereto whereby, on exerting a pull on one of the cables, the plate is swung from its inoperative to its operative position and on exerting a pull on the other cable the plate is swung in the reverse direction.

An application ofthe present invention to a life-guard or fender for use on the front of a motor vehicle, is shown in the accompanying drawing, whereinr- A Figure l is a diagrammatic elevation showing, in full lines, the life-guard in its operative position, and, in dotted lines, in its inoperative position; Y

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic front elevation of the control gear; l

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic side elevation, partly in section;

Figure 4, a diagrammatic front elevation, on an enlarged scale, of a detail of the fender; and

Figure'5, a front elevation of the life guard in v its operative position, the front of a motor vehicle to which it is applied indicated in dotted lines.

The life-guard or fender as shown in the accompanying drawing comprises a'hammock 50, 40 made from a sheet of fabric material which preferably has elastic properties, carried at either extremities by cross bars, the upper one of which is located between two lugs l5, each of which is disposed on Vone end of a pivoting plate -46 carried on the forward end of the chassis l, whilst the lower one 25 is carried between the forward ends of two piston rods 3, and is provided with a plurality of springs to which is secured a buffer or fender bar 2.

The apparatus comprises two such plates 45- 46, and two piston rods 3, sliding in cylinders 5, and one of each of these components is located on either side of the chassis, but as the parts on either side are exactly the same, the following description will refer to one side of the chassis only so far as it relates to the parts 45-46, 3 and 5, and to cables and pulleys connected thereto.

The plate 45-46 comprises an approximately U-shaped portion 45 and a flange 46 located centrally and longitudinally of the portion 45 and at right angles` thereto, the whole being pivoted, at 49, beween a pair of vertically disposed brackets 52 bolted or otherwise secured to the chassis 1.

This plate 45-46 is provided at one end with a lug 15 adapted to house one end of the cross bar carrying the upper end of the hammock 50, and at the other end with another lug 55 adapted to retain a bolt 48 in such a manner that the lat. ter can slide therein longitudinally of the plate. This bolt 48 is prevented from being removed from said lug 55 by two collars 481, 48H, iixed thereto on either side of the lug, a coil spring 48m, being housed between the said lug and the lower collar 48ii for the purpose described'below.

The bolt 48 is connected at its upper extremity to the end of a cable 53 which after passing around a pulley 47, rotatably carried between lugs or brackets secured in a suitable position to the flange 46, passes around a second pulley 58, rotatably carried on an arm 57, bolted lor otherwise secured to the forward end of a sideA member of the chassis l, and is fastened to a pulley or drum 56 keyed to a rotatable shaft 31, said shaft being carried between two arms or struts 4l depending from the chassis 1. A second cable 54 is connected to each of the bosses 55 and after passing 4over the pulley 58, or another freely rotating pulley located on the same spindle as the pulley 58, is fastened to a pulley or drum 30, which is also keyed to the shaft 3l. The shaft 81 has still another pulley or drum 29 keyed thereon, to which is fastened one end of a cable 27, the other end of said cable being secured to a piston 4, adapted to be impelled forwardly, when desired, under the action of a compression spring 24.l Both the piston 4 and spring 24 are housed within a cylinder 5 carried below the chassis;r the rear end of said cylinder is pivoted at 6 to the lower extremity of an arm or strut 7 rigidly secured to and depending from the chassis, whilst its forward end is suspended from a spring 9 housed Within a tube 10 pivotally secured to the chassis. The several cables are wound around their corresponding pulleys or drums keyed on the shaft 31 in such a manner that when the piston 4 is released and impelled forwardly within its cylinder 5 the cable 27 unwinds and rotates the shaft which winds up the cable 54 and unwinds the cable 53. As shown in Figure l, the winding-up of the cable 54 pulls on the boss 55 and pivots the plate 45-46 about its fulcrum 49, from the position shown in dotted lines to the position shown in full lines, and this movement is not hampered by cable 53 as the latter is unwound simultaneously with the winding-up of cable 54. As the plate 45--46 approaches the position shown in full lines in Figure 1, the lower extremity of the bolt 48 impinges-on the surface of a ramp 59 located on the dumb-irons of the chassis 1 immediately in front of the brackets 52, and during the passage of the bolt along the surface of said ramp it encounters a hole or slot cut therein and, owing to the action of the spring 48m, is engaged therewith to lock the plate 45-46 in position. The said ramp 59 also serves as a stop for the lower ends of the plates 45--46.

The rod 3 is connected to the piston 4, hence as the latter is impelled forwardly within the cylinder 5 under the action of the spring 24, the

said rod is projected further and further from the cylinder until it assumes the position shown in full lines in Figure l'. This movement causes the movement of the cylinder, and the mechanism carried thereby, about the pivot 6 to be increased, and therefore the spring 9, housed within the tube 10, is elongated and the cylinder turns slightly about said pivot 6 so that the buffer or fender bar 2 is finally located very near the surface whereon the vehicle is travelling, when the hammock is ready to catch any obstacle which may be in the path of the vehicle.

To return the apparatus to its out of use or inoperative position, there is a single lever 36 located adjacent the driving seat of the vehicle,

the lower end of said lever being connected through a free-wheel device to a shaft 34 carried intermediate the side members of the chassis 1, and having a wheel 33 keyed thereon, said wheel being adapted to drive a similar wheel 32 keyed to the shaft 31 intermediate the two sets of pulleys 29, 30, 56. The wheels 32, 33, are preferably toothed and interconnected by a chain or belt 42, so that when the spindle 36 is rocked backwards and forwards bythe driver the shaft and pulley 33 is rotated and the movement transferred via the chain or belt 42 to wheel 32, shaft 31 and pulleys 29, 30, 56. The first effect of the rotation so applied to the spindle 31 is to exert a pull on the cable 53, whereby the bolt 48 is withdrawn from engagement with the hole or slot in the ramp 59 so that when the pull on the cable 53 is continued, due to rotation of shaft 31 and winding up of the cable 53 around the pulley or drum 56, the plate -46 is pivoted in an anti-clockwise direction about its fulcrum 49. This rotation of the shaft 31 unwinds the cable 54 from the pulley or drum 30 and also rewinds the cable 27 around the pulley or drum 29, which latter operation draws the piston 4 towards the rear end of the cylinder 5 and recompresses the springs 24.

To prevent the piston 4 from being driven to the forward end of the cylinder 5 during this operation, and also to enable the ready release of the complete apparatus from its inoperative to its operative position, a ratchet wheel 37 is keyed to the spindle 3l said wheel being engaged by a pawl 38 carried on a shaft or spindle 39 carried rigidly in a convenient positionV inside the vehicle frame, this device being controlled by a pedal 40 keyed to the shaft which, when depressed by the driver of the vehicle, disengages the pawl from the ratchet and enables the piston 4 to be impelled along the cylinder 5.

As the piston 4 is withdrawn rearwardly along the cylinder 5 and the plate 45--46 pivots in an anti-clockwise direction to its inoperative position, the distance between the cross bars carrying the hammock decreases, and as the hammock is carried by one or more spring rollers it is automatically rolled around one or other or both of said cross bars during this return movement.

In the apparatus as described and shown the recompression of the springs 24 is effected by hand, but this operation may readily be effected by an electric motor, compressed air, or by the engine driving the vehicle; also the springs 24 may be dispensed with and provision made whereby the pistons 4 are propelled forwardly by compressed air.

The diameters of the several pulleys located on the spindle 31 are of such dimensions that during both the vopening and folding of the hammock none of the cables become slack.

If desired, automatic electric switches may be incorporated in the paths of any of the moving parts of the apparatus so that when the fender is moved to its operative position, the circuit tor the sparking plugs of the internal combustion engine, if used, may be broken or an apparatus maybe incorporated whereby the vehicle brakes may be applied immediately the pedal 40 is depressed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. YA safety guard for vehicles comprising a hammock, a movable upper holding member for supporting the upper end of the hammock, means for mounting said upper member on the front ofthe vehicle, and means for locking said upper member against any movement in its operative position, in combination with a lower holding element connected to and holding the lower portion of the hammock, and operating means for moving said lower holdingl element forward t0 operative position in advance of said upper holding element, said operating means acting to yieldingly move and hold said lower element forward to, and in, loperative position and yielding to partially absorb the impact of said lower element with a body or object in its path of travel, and connections between said operating means and vsaid upper holding means for causing the movement of the latter to operative position simultaneously with the movement of said lower holding element v to operative position.

2. A safety guard for vehicles comprising a hammock, a movable upper holding member for supporting the upper end of the hammock, means for mounting said upper member on the front of the'vehicle, and means for locking said upper member against any movement in its .operative position, in ycombination with a lower holding element connected to and holding the lower portion of the hammock, andoperating means for moving said lower holding element forward to operative positionY in advance of said upper holding element, said operating means acting to yieldingly move and hold said lower element forward to, and in, operative position and yielding to partially absorb the impact of said lower element with a body or object in its path of travel, an operating element, connections between said operating means and said operating element and between said operating element and said upper holding member for causing the movement of the latter to operative position simultaneously with the forward movement of the lower holding element, connections between said operating element and operating means and between said operating moving said lower holding element forward to operative position in advance of said upper holding element, said operating means acting to yieldingly move and hold said lower element forward to, and in, operative position and yielding to partially absorb the impact of said lower element with a body or object in its path of travel, and a supplementary shock absorbing means carried by said lower holding element and adapted to yield independently thereof.

EMILE HANOUL. 

